Is vintage unopened product a good investment? Here are my results

jsanz

This post is simply to give others an idea of how to value their collections. It is not to brag or boast at all.

Over the years I have seen discussions and questions on here about various cards as an investment. I buy, hold, and sell unopened product for fun and for investment. I love 1970's - mid 80's stuff. I have always wondered what kind of returns I would get if and when I decided to sell. Everyone likes to guess what their stuff is worth. Well I have an example because I sold a bunch of things recently. I will not bore you with too may specifics but kind of summarize it. I hope some of you can gain something from this post.

I was buying a lot around 2015 and watching the prices rise over the years wondering if or when the unopened market would peak. I am not a dealer so I paid retail but tried to snag a good deal whenever possible. I recently sold a bunch of packs and boxes from the mid 70's-early80's to a large dealer. They paid fair and they paid in cash. I considered selling the items myself and I am sure I could have gained a few thousand dollars by doing it myself but I decided an all cash deal is better than many smaller transactions and the potential headaches that might come with that. So I sold and here are my results.

My return on investment was around 13% average per year.
If I sold everything myself my return would have been around 17%
The S&P 500 returned an average of 12.5% over the same time frame as I held the cards.

I feel like there was also an enjoyment factor in having the cards that I would not get from having the same money in a bunch of stocks. There is no way to calculate a return on my enjoyment. So, I am looking for more cards and hopefully doing it again with better results.

jay0791

Congrats
In collecting if you can enjoy the whole process and still make a buck that is a bonus.
Hope you had $5 million invested.

flatfoot816

I'd be careful about talking about profits on a public forum. Having said that there is a whole group of new vintage collectors out there. And with sites ripping vintage packs for profit--vintage unopened will continue to increase in value. Still the best investment out there--IMO--as far as cards are concerned. Been saying that for 20 years and it's still true

congrats on your sales. Why didn't you consign anything to an AH--like REA? Their unopened stuff has really taken off in the past 3 auctions

jsanz

Thank you. The packs and boxes in my small "portfolio" did not all increase in value. I am averaging it out here. A few items I lost a little and some items I did well.

I never thought to use an auction house. My original plan was to send it all to BBCE for wrapping and then sell it myself but cash is king and I decided to take my gains that way.